


The Eggs and Eggubation

by SadyetHappy, Spectral_Aspen



Series: Voltron: Eggverse [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Biology, Asexuality, Eggs, Gen, Worldbuilding, ace culture, detailed anatomy, eggverse, headcanons, lots of headcanons, reproductive anatomy, semi-realistic biology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 02:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14392302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadyetHappy/pseuds/SadyetHappy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spectral_Aspen/pseuds/Spectral_Aspen
Summary: Welcome to the Eggverse world of Voltron! Feel free to read our into page which is part 1 of the Eggverse series if you want some minor background to all the craziness.This is a series of headcanons all linked together describing how the Alteans could potentially be an asexual species that reproduces by laying eggs and cuddling to make them hatch.Prepare yourself for large paragraphs and run-on sentences if you decide to read this (sorry).





	1. Eggs: "Good" and "Bad"

**Author's Note:**

> SadyetHappy and I came up with headcanons (so many headcanons) so that we could have Alteans be basically one giant cuddly asexual species. We're tired of all the sexy fics (not that we don't read them, because that smut is glorious, but we like a little variation every once in a while) and so we came up with lovey cuddly eggs and non-sexual incubation headcanons because we can.

**HOW TO GET EGGS:**  
Altean carriers lay black eggs twice per year, once in the Altean equivalent of spring and once in the Altean equivalent of fall, slowly gathering quintessence over the first 5 months and then spending the last month gathering the final bit of quintessence, consolidating and forming an egg inside the carrier. These eggs contain no dna from their “carrier”. A festival is held during each spring and fall equinox when all of the Altean carriers come together in centers and lay their eggs communally. All of the healthy “good” eggs are placed together and all of the unhealthy “bad” eggs are ritually burnt in a giant fire.

**“Good Eggs”:**  
A healthy egg will end up being approximately the size of an AGA(appropriate for gestational age) human baby, regardless of the size of the carrier, as if necessary they can shift their shape to be larger at no risk to themself or the developing egg. As an egg incubates it will double in size, regardless of how long the incubation period is. The healthy egg will be matte black, with no blotches or variations in the blackness, and a hard, smooth, and thick shell. The egg will seem to absorb light, but will not reflect it in any way.

**“Bad Eggs”:**  
A bad egg can be identified by any number of abnormal characteristics. A thin and/or brittle and/or faceted shell, white or grey splotches or markings, an abnormal size (too small or too large) and it will reflect light and appear shiny. The term “bad” egg can be misleading, because while these eggs can be a result of an unhealthy or dangerous lifestyle that reflects itself in the quintessence gathered to for the egg, thus resulting in an unhealthy egg, the egg can simply come out “bad” through no fault of the carrier. If the carrier is healthy and active, they may have a smaller chance of laying a bad egg than someone who is the opposite, or someone who is stressed, or works in a dangerous environment, but that chance is still there.  
Certain impurities in eggs can be worse than others. For example, an egg’s shininess determines the ease in which it absorbs quintessence, if it’s shinier that means it is more reflective, and thus has a more difficult time absorbing quintessence. It is not impossible, and it is not harmful to the egg, but it is an impurity nonetheless. Shininess is most often caused by emotional stress in a carrier, as the stress agitates their quintessence and makes it more difficult to relax. The carrier’s flight or fight response puts their guard up, and this reflects in their quintessence and thus in their egg. A more severe impurity would be splotches or a brittle shell, as this is a reflection of a lack of quintessence gathered during the 5 month accumulation phase, as well as a reflection of the carrier’s inability to form the quintessence evenly throughout the whole egg. This is often a result of trauma of some sort, be it physical or emotional. Keep in mind, however, that if a carrier is naturally less able to generate the excess quintessence needed then these impurities will be more likely for their eggs.

**Misc:**  
Additionally, the good/bad identifying is more of a spectrum labeling, there are eggs that are absolutely “good” and absolutely “bad”, but there are also eggs that are somewhere in the middle and a bit hard to identify. Different standards of classification can vary from carrier to carrier, and from coven to coven. (Covens are explained later.)  
This is an evolutionary achievement, as when Alteans were not yet the alpha species on their world predators and scavengers would attempt to steal the shiny eggs and would leave the strange flat black ones alone.  
The ritual burning of the bad eggs is not a shameful attempt to hide and eradicate the bad eggs, but a blessing and a hope that their quintessence will be released into the universe and will find its way to another place where it can be further utilized and benefit someone else.  
The healthy eggs are distributed through an adoption agency that assigns eggs to “couples” (2 or more in a healthy, preferably romantic relationship). The couple must go through a stringent interview process to make sure that they are safe, qualified, and well off enough to care for the egg and the babe that will come from it, and that the egg will accept them once they receive one. All genders are able to have biological children with any gender, though their must be at least two parties involved. The incubation time depends on the couple/parents.


	2. Eggubation: Carrying and Laying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I (Spectral_Aspen) wrote this during my maternity rotation in nursing school so I went a little overboard with the details. 
> 
>  
> 
> **If biology and talking about how birth/laying eggs could potentially work in a fictional universe bothers/triggers you in any way you shouldn't read this.**

**THE EGGUBATION PERIOD:**  
-Total time: 6 months  


**First 5 months: Accumulation Phase**  
-The carrier’s body is gathering and storing excess quintessence in their carrying chamber  
-There is no change in the physical appearance of the Altean carrier’s abdomen around the carrying chamber at this time, however an Altean’s breasts will start to grow in size in order to build up a store of quintessence either to help support the carrier in the event of some sort of trauma (evolutionarily this was a physical trauma of some sort, though in more modern times emotional is equally if not more likely), or to provide one final massive (or small) burst of quintessence to the egg as the Month of Formation begins (as is needed)  


**Last 1 month: The Month of Formation**  
-The gathered quintessence starts to coalesce and form into an egg  
-Very little quintessence is absorbed from the carrier in this phase, as most of the carrier’s energy and thus quintessence is going into the forming process  
-The egg forms from the inside out, this is why carriers that naturally generate less quintessence have smaller and more fragile eggs, as the densest quintessence is at the egg’s center, and lessens as the egg grows out, where a perfect/healthy egg with have a stable concentration of quintessence from center to shell  
-As the egg forms the carrying chamber expands to allow space for the egg, this reflects externally with what humans would call a “baby bump” that rapidly gets larger as the month goes on, and as the egg forms it settles narrow side up to enable a quick laying once the broad base gets through, and to enable an easier downward push by the various muscles involved in the process. The external bump is wide at the hips and narrows as it goes up.  


**The Laying:  
** Carrying Chamber/Uterus  
The carrier possesses a carrying chamber/uterus in their lower abdomen, cradled in their pelvis. It is supported by multiple ligaments and tendons so that as the egg develops it is well supported and does not get damaged, nor do damage to the surrounding organs and tissues.  
The bottom of the chamber is blocked by a mucous plug, to prevent any of the quintessence from leaking out into the laying canal and accumulating there/being wasted. The plug remains until the laying process actually begins, and it exiting the body signifies that the egg is now able to enter the laying canal.  
During the day of the equinox a carrier will experience contractions as their uterus prepares to expel the egg. The muscled walls of the carrying chamber bear down on the narrow top of the egg they gradually put pressure on it to encourage the porta to relax and open and allow the egg through. As the egg passes fully through the porta and out of the carrying chamber the contractions continue, even after the egg has fully left the chamber, as the carrying chamber must now return to its original size. The process of the carrying chamber returning to it’s normal/pre-egg state is called involution.  


**Porta**  
This is the opening between the carrying chamber and the laying canal where the mucous plug resides for the majority of the eggubation and laying periods. Once the carrying chamber contractions start the mucous plug is forced into the laying canal, where it is forced down towards the pudenda by the canal’s own contractions. As the carrying chamber contractions gradually increase in strength throughout the day of the equinox the porta opening softens and expands, gradually getting larger to the point where the egg will be able to pass through. Because the largest part of the egg exits the carrying chamber first, it takes all day for the porta to relax and widen enough to allow the egg to pass through.  
Once the laying process is complete, the egg is expelled from the carrier’s body, and the carrying chamber has fully involuted, the porta forms another mucous plug within the night following the equinox to keep out infection and to prevent quintessence leakage in the upcoming accumulation phase.  


**Laying Canal**  
This canal is always present in the carrier, however it is narrow and blocked at both ends when not in use. The canal is well muscled to facilitate the egg’s movement down the canal, and yet is also very flexible and capable of stretching a great deal to allow space for the egg to fit.  
During the birthing process the canal walls will secrete a viscous mucous as a lubricant to help the egg move along without causing friction damage to the canal’s tissues.  
The canal must first relax to allow the base of the egg to pass through, and then constrict and contract to bear down on the narrower top of the egg to facilitate its’ passage. As the contractions come after the stretching the canal can easily return to its normal size within the day after the equinox.  


**Pudenda**  
When the carrier is not in the process of laying an egg the opening is scarred over to prevent infections and debris from gaining entrance to such a vulnerable and critical part of the carrier’s anatomy.  
The eve of the spring/autumn equinox the pudenda opens, signalling to the carrier that the laying will begin the next day. The pudenda “opens” via the scar tissue dying and falling off, as the blood and quintessence that keeps it alive is naturally cut-off and the tissue dies, loosening from the surrounding live tissue and falling off as the mucous plug exits the body and pushes the scar tissue off. This gives the carrier time to prepare for the laying, if they haven’t already. The pudenda, much like the porta and laying canal, is relaxed and stretched throughout the day of the equinox to prepare for the egg’s passage. The mucous secreted by the laying canal helps to facilitate the softening and relaxing of the pudenda, and ensures that the pudenda does not tear.  
Once the egg has been expelled from the carrier’s body and the laying canal starts to narrow to its regular size the majority of the excess mucous is also expelled from the carrier’s body. Once this has happened the pudenda starts to constrict and narrow until it completely scars over once more, this usually occurs once the carrying chamber has fully involuted and the laying canal has returned to its normal state, and so occurs at the latest by the evening of the day after the equinox.  


**The Elders Role:**  
Once a carrier has gone through eggopause (mentioned later) and their quintessence has stabilized they may be allowed to assist other carriers in covens in the process of laying. They are trained in emergency medical care in the case of a laying gone wrong, though that only happens once every two or three decades, and to help ease the newer carriers through the process.


	3. Eggubation: Quintessence Infusing

**HOW ALTEANS ARE CREATED:**  
The eggs gathers dna through quintessence. The couple/partners cuddle the egg between them and their quintessence is absorbed into the egg. The egg will only accept the quintessence if all parties love/care for the egg, as well as hold romantic/love* and/or nurturing feelings for all other parties, though in extreme cases a lack of hatred and intent to harm the other parties may also be enough. After a few weeks colour will start to form on the egg shell, starting as a vertical half/half split (or more colours spread across the egg equally if there are more partners). These colours represent the parents’ quintessence. Example being if Parent A’s quintessence is red and Parent B’s quintessence is green, then the egg should have both colours. A truly mutual loved egg should be 50% one colour and 50% the other (if there are only two parents). Very rarely will an egg be less than 50/50, as the adoption process ensures that the egg will be placed with loving caretakers. Over the course of the egg’s development the colours with move, swirl, and blur, until a new colour takes over the egg. When this happens, the egg is ready to hatch. Example, if Parent A’s quintessence is red and Parent B’s quintessence is green, that doesn’t mean the baby’s will be brown. The egg/baby-to-be could have quintessence of any colour.

*We are not excluding aromatic beings by saying “love” is a qualifier for the proper incubation of an egg. What is meant is that the beings in the relationship who are a part of the incubation process must genuinely want/care for this egg in addition to their partner(s), and all that that entails; meaning they will not just up-and-ditch when the reality of caring for a newborn sets in because they don’t care enough to stay when the going gets tough. “Love” in this instance means willingness-to-care-and-nurture-the-egg-and-hatchling-alongside-their-partner(s)-through-thick-or-thin, but all of that is much too long and so we decided “love” would be quicker and easier (as is obviously evidenced by my “quick and easy” explanation…)

 **HOLLOW EGGS:**  
Once the incubation process has started and and egg is being infused with its caretakers quintessence it is possible that the caretakers may stop feeling love and caring for the egg, either intentionally or because of external circumstances, and if this happens they will start to less readily share quintessence with the egg. If the egg does not receive a steady infusion of quintessence from at least 2 beings that fit the loving/caring parameters then it will start to lock in the quintessence it currently has, and will also lock out any external quintessence. If the minimum amount of partners do not quickly manage to get their quintessence infusing into their egg again, the egg will leach out the quintessence that it has locked in and will eventually become Hollow. Hollow eggs are distinguished by their clear shell that is full of cracks and allows one to see directly through the egg, like it is made of glass. The egg cannot be re-incubated, and having an egg end up Hollow is very shameful, though it is not criminal.


	4. BABIES!

**ALTEAN APPEARANCE AT BIRTH:**  
All Alteans are born with mustaches. Mustaches and facial hair in general are seen as something youthful and attractive. As Alteans get older, if they have confidence in themselves (ex.Allura) or want to be seen for their intellect it is common for them to shave off their mustaches and facial hair. That being said some Alteans (Coran, Alfor) really like having/keeping their mustache and it's just a part of their appearance because they like it.  


Additionally, the colour of an Alteans’ facial markings are a reflection of the colour of their quintessence.  
Alteans have no standard skin or hair colour, though the Royal Family Line tends to have darker skin and white hair as a quintessal/genetic quirk, just as other families will have traits that are prominent and carry through generations (ex. pale skin, red hair, blue eyes etc).


	5. "Genders"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before people worry this is less a gender thing and more of an evolutionary/practicality thing. Please keep in mind that Alteans are _*not*_ humans.

**ALTEAN GENDERS:**  
There are two "genders" (more like functions) for Alteans; carriers and emissaries.

 **Carriers:**  
-Seen as the “females” by other races, when interacting with species whose languages require it they typically use female pronouns  
-Less common than emissaries to prevent overpopulation  
-Wider hips to have more room for the egg  
-Possess extra stores of quintessence on their upper chest (breasts)  
-Have a carrying “chamber” and a laying canal that closes when the carrier is not actively laying her egg  
-Can possess other genitalia to be compatible with other species (both those considered “male” and “female”), but will have to intentionally give up the ability to lay eggs permanently (will still be able to incubate an egg with their partner(s) if they make it through the adoption process)  
-Will start laying eggs when they reach physical maturity, first egg has 97% chance of being “bad” as the carrier’s body is figuring out what it’s supposed to be doing, and even if it ends up “good” that’s no guarantee they will be more likely to lay “good” eggs and their second egg has an even higher (99%) chance of being “bad” because their body is so exhausted from the effort of making the first egg “good”  
-Will stop laying eggs when reach a certain age through a process called “eggopause” (explained more next chapter)

 **Emissaries:**  
-Seen as the “males” by other races, when interacting with species whose languages require it they typically use masculine pronouns  
-Narrow or stocky body types, but no curves that imply breasts or carrying hips  
-Have no genitalia of any sort, but can intentionally chose to alter their physique to possess the genitalia of another species (only once, no multiple changing of genitalia) for pleasure and connection purposes (both physical and emotional), and will be able to chose either “female” or “male” genitalia and reproductive parts of another species and reproduce with them, however any children had this way will appear more like their non-Altean parent(s), as the Altean genes will be recessive due to them not being passed down in the traditional Altean way  
-Evolved due to the excessive amounts of eggs being laid by a species that originally possessed only carriers  
-Support carriers and caretakers


	6. Eggopause

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes this is like menopause... as much as it can be at least.

**Stage 1:**

Very unpleasant, as the carrier’s body has to adapt to naturally being unable to engage in the month of formation despite still going through the accumulation phase, and this causes extreme discomfort and quintessence fluctuations until the body has adapted to the energy influx caused by reabsorbing all of the accumulated quintessence at the end of each accumulation phase.

 

**Stage 2:**

Still very unpleasant, the carrier's body is now going through the process of learning to maintain a lower, stable quintessence level (like emissaries) and not accumulating quintessence as part of the Accumulation Phase. Energy fluctuations are normal as the carrier's body begins to generate less energy, then more to overcompensate to bring levels to what they have been since puberty, before remembering that's not happening anymore and dropping again. This goes on and on and on again as the fluctuations get smaller and smaller until they eventually level out.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to comment and talk to us about what you think of any of our ideas! We're kinda proud of all the cool stuff we came up with, even if it's all crazy.


End file.
